Sydenham Park soccer club is facing a season-defining match in state league 1 on Saturday.
The sixth-placed Reds take on third-placed Altona Magic at Keilor Lodge Reserve.
A win for Sydenham Park means anything is possible in the championship race.
A loss, and the Reds will lose touch with the top two.
Sydenham Park coach Alan Muscat said his players needed no reminding how much was riding on the match.
“With both clubs having Macedonian heritage, there’s a really good rivalry,” he said.
“We’re really looking forward to it. They have recruited really well and are one of the benchmark teams in this league.
“It will be a challenge and we want to go up against the best teams in the league. There isn’t much motivation needed for this game. Everyone will be up for the challenge.”
When the two sides played earlier in the season, Magic came out on top 2-1, Slave Bozinovski and Ross Thompson scoring the Magic goals.
Sydenham Park goes into the return match full of confidence after blasting its way out of a mid-season slump.
After dropping three games in a row, the Reds returned to the winners’ list in style in late June, beating both Corio and Westgate 2-1.
Muscat was full of praise for the way his players responded to the challenging run.
“Before our two wins, we lost about four or five players to injury,” he said.
“It’s always hard to replace injured players, but the squad has some depth.
“Unfortunately the results didn’t go our way for a while, but to get it back in the past couple of weeks is good and it has been great to have a couple of wins under our belt.”
In the same division, Sydenham Park isn’t the only Brimbank-based side with a crunch match awaiting it after last weekend’s bye.
Second-placed North Sunshine Eagles will take on fifth-placed Preston Lions, while seventh and eighth-placed teams Diamond Valley and Cairnlea will square off.
